Description
LOCATION: Monterrey Bay, California, USA
STORY: Kelp isn’t just beautiful – it’s also an essential ecological component of temperate underwater ecosystems such as off California’s coast. This is a close-up of a section of Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), showing it’s elegant fronds and gas-filled bulbs, which are designed to keep the fronds growing up towards the surface and the all-important sunlight. The towering branches can reach up to 150′ tall, eventually hitting the surface, then growing horizontally, creating anchored rafts. Fascinatingly, it’s also one of the fastest-growing organisms on the planet, capable of over 20″ per day! But enough geeking – let’s talk about the photo. The elegant swirl of the branch is brought out by some creative lighting techniques, accentuating each float bulb’s shape. Normal straight-on lighting would produce a flat image. and I really wanted to accentuate the shape of each float bulb and the elegant swirl of the branch, so I got a little creative with the lighting, used a fast shutter speed to blacken out the daytime background, and composed tightly on one small section of the giant underwater forest.
For similar color or feel, check out the art Radiant Bloom and Jelly In The Sun.
For printing of this seaweed artwork, California Dreamin is flexible for cropping away from it’s native ratio of 3:2 into tall panoramic art or even a square, and is available in extremely large art sizes up to a maximum of 150″ tall. It’s earth-tone color palette works nicely in rooms with complimentary colors including wood elements and grays. You can purchase this luxury seaweed artwork online in our standard sizes, but if you’d like to discuss a custom crop or size, please contact one of our design consultants at the art gallery.